Capitals at Penguins

CAPITALS (24-12-9) at PENGUINS (27-11-7)

Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Conor Sheary -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Daniel Sprong
Connor McMichael -- Lars Eller -- Joe Snively
Carl Hagelin -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway
Martin Fehervary -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Justin Schultz
Matt Irwin -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Vitek Vanecek
Ilya Samsonov
Scratched:Dennis Cholowski, Brett Leason, Aliaksei Protas
Injured:T.J. Oshie (upper body), Nick Jensen (upper body), Anthony Mantha (shoulder)
COVID-19 protocol:Michal Kempny
Penguins projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Brock McGinn -- Evgeni Malkin -- Evan Rodrigues
Zach Aston-Reese -- Jeff Carter -- Radim Zohorna
Dominik Simon -- Brian Boyle -- Kasperi Kapanen
Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino
Mike Matheson -- Mark Friedman
Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith
Scratched:None
Injured:Jason Zucker (core muscle), Teddy Blueger (fractured jaw), Louis Domingue (lower body), Drew O'Connor (upper body), Danton Heinen (upper body)
COVID-19 protocol:Chad Ruhwedel
Status report
Jensen will be a game-time decision. The defenseman has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury. … Ruhwedel, a defenseman, entered NHL COVID-19 protocol Tuesday. Friedman could play his second game since Nov. 13 in place of Ruhwedel. … Dumoulin will be a game-time decision after missing an optional morning skate Tuesday and an optional practice Monday. The defenseman left after taking a shot off his leg in the final minute of the first period on Sunday before returning for the start of the second period.